Everything about The Kura-araxes Culture totally explained
The
Kura-Araxes culture or the
Early trans-Caucasian culture, was a civilization that existed from 3400 B.C until about 2000 B.C. The earliest evidence for this culture is found on the
Ararat plain; thence it spread to
Georgia by 3000 B.C., and during the next millennium it proceeded westward to the
Erzurum plain, southwest to
Cilicia, and to the southeast into an area below the Urmia basin and
Lake Van, down to the borders of present day
Syria. Altogether, the early Trans-Caucasian culture, at its greatest spread, enveloped a vast area approximately 1000 km by 500 km.
The name of the culture is derived from the
Kura and
Araxes river valleys. Its territory corresponds to parts of modern
Armenia,
Georgia and the
Caucasus. It may have given rise to the later
Khirbet Kerak ware culture found in Syria and
Canaan after the fall of the
Akkadian Empire.
History
In its earliest phase, metal was scant, but it would later display "a precocious metallurgical development which strongly influenced surrounding regions"
JP Mallory,
EIEC, pp. 341-42.
They built mud-brick houses, originally round, but later developing into a square design. The economy was based on
farming and
livestock-raising. They grew grain and various orchard crops, and are known to have used implements to make
flour. They raised cattle, sheep, goats, dogs, and in its later phases, horses.
Their
pottery was distinctive. It was painted black and red, using geometric designs for ornamentation. Examples have been found as far south as
Syria and
Israel, and as far north as
Dagestan and
Chechnya. The spread of this pottery, along with archaeological evidence of invasions, suggests that the Kura-Araxes people may have spread outward from their original homes, and most certainly, had extensive trade contacts.
Their metal goods were widely distributed, recorded in the
Volga,
Dnieper and
Don-
Donets systems in the north, into Syria and Palestine in the south, and west into Anatolia. The culture is closely linked to the approximately contemporaneous
Maykop culture of
Transcaucasia. They are also remarkable for the production of wheeled vehicles (wagons and carts).
Inhumation practices are mixed. Flat graves are found, but so are substantial
kurgan burials, the latter of which may be surrounded by
cromlechs. This points to a heterogeneous ethno-linguistic population.
Hurrian and
Urartian elements are quite probable. One can also argue for at least an outpost of an early Semitic language, and certainly the presence of an early representative of the
Kartvelian languages isn't unreasonable. An influence of
Indo-European languages was also likely present.
In the
Armenian hypothesis of
Indo-European origins, this culture (and perhaps that of the
Maykop culture) is identified with the speakers of the
Anatolian languages.
Further Information
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